Welcome to the Clay Lane blog
This page keeps you up-to-date with recent additions, alerts you to posts you may have missed, and invites you to tackle exercises similar to those NL Clay gave to pupils aged 12-13 in the 1930s.
Add Vowels Every Day • Think and Speak
Make as many words as you can by adding vowels (AEIOU) to these consonants.
wds (5+1)
wades. wads. weds. weeds. woods.
wadis.
Spinners Every Day • Think and Speak
Pick any group of three words, and see if you can still remember them in an hour, and still remember them tomorrow. For a further challenge, try using all of your three words together in a single sentence.
The words in this puzzle are taken randomly from a list of 927 common words. You can change e.g. cat → cats, go → went, quick → quickly.
1 Address. Everything. Town.
2 Fill. Hit. Woman.
3 Model. Scientist. Window.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
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On This Day
In the year that Napoleon’s quest for European Empire faltered at Moscow, President Madison of the USA came to his aid.
Join each group of ideas together to make a single sentence, in as many ways as you can.
The USA declared independence in 1776. George Washington wanted the USA to ally with Britain. Thomas Jefferson preferred France.
The British liberated American slaves. They took them aboard Royal Navy ships. The captains treated them as free men.
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2
‘Alpha of the Plough’ thought the Victorians understood Christmas and New Year better than we do.
Join each group of ideas together to make a single sentence, in as many ways as you can.
People disparage the previous generation. Every generation does it. The next one will disparage ours. [Compare. Past. Parent.]
We send each other cards at Christmas. We write greetings in them. They reflect society’s values. [Exchange. Reveal. Wish.]
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3
A short prayer and poem from the Sarum Missal, for the night before Christmas.
4
JS Bach: Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns die Stimme
This is the Chorale from the Cantata Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns die Stimme BWV 140. The hymn was written by Philipp Nicolai, and published in 1599, and is a traditional hymn in Advent and at Christmas.
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Awake! the voice of the watchman
Calleth us from high upon the walls;
Awake, O City of Jerusalem!
This is the hour named midnight:
She calleth us with a clear voice.
Where are ye, O wise virgins?
Arise, the Bridegroom cometh;
Stand, and take your lamps in hand!
Alleluia! [Praise ye the Lord!]
Make ready for the marriage,
Ye must go out to meet him!
5
Sir Roger explains why he makes Christmas such a special time for all his neighbours.
Join each group of ideas together to make a single sentence, in as many ways as you can.
Winter is cold. Food is scarce in winter. Winter is hard on poor people. [Cruel. Lack. Year.]
Sir Roger invited in his neighbours every Christmas. They played parlour games. He liked to watch. [Custom. Guest. Spectator.]
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6
Create sentences in which a particular consonant features prominently and frequently.
In Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation (1936), Bruce Rogers (1870-1967) opened with this:
Peter Piper, without Pretension to Precocity or Profoundness, Puts Pen to Paper to Produce these Puzzling Pages, Purposely to Please the Palates of Pretty Prattling Playfellows, Proudly Presuming that with Proper Penetration it will Probably, and Perhaps Positively, Prove a Peculiarly Pleasant and Profitable Path to Proper, Plain and Precise Pronunciation. He Prays Parents to Purchase this Playful Performance, Partly to Pay him for his Patience and Pains; Partly to Provide for the Printers and Publishers; but Principally to Prevent the Pernicious Prevalence of Perverse Pronunciation.
This repetition of a consonant is called alliteration.
In Think and Speak (1929) NL Clay encouraged his pupils to create their own alliterative sentences. The consonants he recommended were: n, p, r, s, b, d, f, g, j, k and l. You could use this model:
Barry bought a bag of broken biscuits.
If Barry bought a bag of broken biscuits,
Where is the bag of broken biscuits Barry bought?
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7
Richard Addinsell: Scrooge Suite
Music from the 1951 film Scrooge, starring Alastair Sim. Among the many lovely tunes are the Christmas carols ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ and ‘Silent Night’, and the haunting folksong ‘Barbara Allen’.
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